A DOCUMENTARY called Jump London, broadcast by Channel Four in 2003, was the first glimpse many people in this country had of parkour, or free-running as it is more commonly known.

The sight of youngsters from France jumping from rooftop to rooftop and vaulting over, off or on to various landmarks in the capital polarised opinion.

It inspired teenagers around the country to follow their lead, with "flashmobs" cropping up in various town centres as youths gathered to mimic the death-defying moves of newfound heroes like Sebastien Foucan.

Foucan did more than most to promote the movement to the general public, going on to play a free-running terrorist chased by Daniel Craig's James Bond in the opening sequence of Casino Royale.

But to many parents who also watched Jump London agog, the Frenchman was an anti-hero, a pied piper character tempting their children into peril.

Yet fast forward 15 years and times have changed.

The UK this year became the first country to recognise parkour as a sport, opening up the possibility of it being taught as part of the PE curriculum in schools, earn funding from the National Lottery or possibly one day being contested at the Olympic Games.

Bury-born Tom Redfern is perfectly positioned to pounce on the possibilities that decision now offers.

The 22-year-old is a level two qualified coach with his own company, Project Z Parkour, which offers tuition to children as young as four right the way up to a new class geared towards over-60s.

"Last month, the BBC did a news piece about a group of parkour coaches that run classes for seniors in London," said Redfern, whose first seniors class will be held at an indoor facility near the Trafford Centre on Thursday, April 20.

"After that I had a couple of emails from people asking if we offered classes for seniors too.

"The classes focus less on perfecting techniques and more on using parkour skills for mobility and enjoyment.

"The aim is to help strengthen muscles and joints for sustainability through a variety of tasks, challenges and games.

"The London-based group say their members are not just improving physically, but their attitude towards their body’s limitations are also improving in day-to-day life."

Redfern was only eight when the Jump London documentary was aired. His eyes were opened to the sport at Bury College years later.

One of the first qualified coaches, Will Tomlinson, was hired by the college to offer a "sport enrichment" class every Friday morning.

"After my first session I was hooked," said Redfern, who was studying A-levels in maths, physics and PE at the time.

"The non-competitive, friendly atmosphere really suited me after eight testosterone-fuelled years of taking football too seriously."

Tomlinson's class at Bury College ended after a year, leaving Redfern and his friends out on a limb.

So they went out on their own to experiment in Burrs Park, which unbeknownst to them offered a kind of parkour theme park.

"We trained there for about four years and now offer classes there as well," said Redfern.

"Parkour is a sport that involves moving your body to overcome obstacles or challenges that may lie in your way.

Simply put, you use your body to get from A to B by jumping, vaulting, climbing, swinging and any other kind of movement you can come up with.

"It just so happens that Burrs Park is perfect for that.

"It has everything you need, with walls and railings and other obstacles all close to one another so you can link all the various different parkour moves together."

To find out more about the various different classes offered in the Bury area visit www.projectzparkour.com or email redfern@projectzparkour.com.

blob Visit burytimes.co.uk/sport to read an extended interview with Tom Redfern

Full interview with Tom Redfern

What is parkour?

Parkour is a sport that involves moving your body to overcome obstacles or challenges that may lie in your way. Simply put, you use your body to get from A to B by jumping, vaulting, climbing, swinging and any other kind of movement you can come up with.

Who am I?

My name is Tom Redfern, I am 22, and I am a level two qualified Parkour coach.

I grew up in Bury and am now living in Bolton.

I started my parkour training in my first year of college when Will Tomlinson was on the coaching scene, and after my first session I was hooked. The non-competitive, friendly atmosphere really suited me after eight testosterone-fuelled years of taking football too seriously.

For one reason or another, Will did not come back to teach at my college in my second year.

My friends and I met up at weekends at Burrs Country Park in Bury trying to teach ourselves new movements and attempting new challenges.

The lack of a coach’s presence lead to a few more bumps and bruises than there needed to be but we got better over the years and stuck at it, because it was fun.

I left college, decided I did not want to go to university because I did not know what I wanted to do as a career and figured it was pointless getting a degree just for the sake of having one.

I knew I wanted to coach parkour because being able to share what I had learned and help others get the enjoyment out of the sport that I have had ever since my first session always sounded like the most productive use of my parkour skills.

But I never saw it as a career option.

I got a job working in a factory that made bin liners. It was an easy enough job. I did not want to stay there forever but I wanted to do two years there so that I had some solid work experience to put on my CV.

Conveniently, two years into the job, the company went into liquidation, forcing me into redundancy.

I did not mind because there was a level one parkour coaching course that was due to run the week after my role ended.

I jumped onto the course and never looked back.

Coaching is now my full-time occupation and has been for almost two years.

I worked for an indoor parkour facility in Manchester for nearly one year but left when it dawned on me that the company I worked for was only interested in turning a profit rather than developing parkour as a sport, which was not what I had imagined my training leading towards.

After leaving, I immediately set up Project Z Parkour with the team I grew up training with.

The initial goal of Project Z Parkour was to offer outdoor classes to the pupils that followed us from the old facility.

During two hugely successful months of running these classes I managed to gain my level two coaching qualification in parkour, which then opened doors to offer my coaching further than the tight-knit group we had been working with all summer in Media City.

Our first action was to set up an outdoor club in Bury at Burrs Country Park.

With most of our team having grown up in Bury, we wanted to offer the people in Bury the opportunity we did not have when we first picked up the sport. It snowballed from there!

With the help of my team, I have run classes in various schools, trampoline parks and youth centres from Bury, to Manchester, to Accrington and now Wigan too.

What does parkour becoming a sport mean?

Now that the UK has been the first nation to recognise Parkour as a sport, the future of the sport is even brighter than before.

The announcement means that parkour will be available as part of physical education at schools, something I inquired about when I was in college because I wanted the sports I was assessed in as part of my A-level to be sports I actually took part in.

This will allow those that have been interested in it for a while now to get recognition for it as part of the PE certificates.

It opens massive opportunity for funding to help boost participation through groups like the National Lottery and Sport England.

This is fantastic news for places like Bury and Bolton, which lack for indoor facilities as it could provide support to kickstart parkour projects.

The biggest change I am hoping to see though is the change in attitude towards parkour as a sport.

Parkour still has the image of being an adrenaline-fuelled, reckless sport where “mad men” jump between buildings, and it is nothing like that.

Parkour requires you to be calm and collected when performing bigger more impressive moves, and we train for hours on end at a low level, before we even consider taking moves to new heights.

We need to learn our limits, understand our bodies so we know what we can or cannot do.

I am hoping, as more people hear about parkour becoming a sport, it will slowly change the public’s view of parkour and help bring about an understanding of the safety measures we put ourselves through to achieve such impressive physical accomplishments.

Project Z Parkour classes and contacts:

Our group currently runs classes everywhere from Manchester, to Bury and Wigan, and are looking to expand further by recruiting more qualified parkour coaches.

Our classes cater for everyone from seven years to adults.

We are in the process of establishing parkour classes for seniors and classes of four to six-year-olds.

For our full class timetable, check out our website: www.projectzparkour.com

If you want any information or have any questions, please contact: redfern@projectzparkour.com